Just a year after finishing fifth in the Barclays Premier League, and just barely out of a Champions League spot, Newcastle United struggled last season it finished 15th in the standings, and was in the relegation scrap until the second to last match.

This season has started much better, and yesterday Newcastle picked up a huge win, beating Chelsea 2-0. The Magpies are now eighth in the table, and looking much more like the squad of two seasons ago. The Magpies have talent all over the pitch, with much of it coming in from the French Ligue 1 in the past two transfer windows. Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye, Mathew Debuchy and others, totaling 11, were brought in to add to the strength of the squad.

So why did the team struggle last season?

I think that it has to do with the performance of the team two years ago. When a team finishes in fifth place in the Premier League, it is rewarded with a spot in the Europa League. The winners of the F.A. Cup and the Capital One Cup are also included in the competition, with the caveat that if that team is already qualified for either Europa or Champions League, the runner-up would go in its place.

For teams like Manchester United and Chelsea, the demands on the squad of playing midweek European matches does not have a huge effect on the squad. Players are fighting for time on the pitch to begin with, because those teams have large squads of players. Those teams also have the experience in European football, and all that goes along playing in the tournaments. Flying midweek to points all across Europe, playing intense matches on a Tuesday or Wednesday night in the Champions League, and then having to come back Saturday and play a Premier League match can be a tough schedule. Throw in Capital One Cup matches midweek, Internationals, and F.A. Cup, and it begins to put a tax on your squad.

For the teams in the Europa League, it can be even tougher. The matches are Thursday nights, and for the most part teams are not playing in Amsterdam, Paris, or Rome. Smaller crowds, more long trips to Eastern Europe, and the clubs have to come back and play Sunday matches to give them an extra day of rest.

The biggest problem though is that the teams that qualify for the Europa League are usually teams with smaller squads. The Newcastle team from 2011-2012 played so well over the course of the season that it was “rewarded” with a spot in the Europa League.

The Magpies did pretty well, finishing second in their group and advancing into the knockout stages. They won the round of 32 and round of 16, and lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Benfica. This run meant that Newcastle was playing Thursday and Sunday matches all the way into April. All of those extra matches massively affected a team with a smaller squad.

This season, Championship side Wigan, and Premier League squads Swansea City and Tottenham, are all involved in the Europa League. Swansea and Wigan are both mid-table right now, but it will be interesting to see how they do going forward, as both teams have smaller squads on which to call. Tottenham, on the other hand, have the squad depth to compete for all trophies it competes in, and are one of the favorites to win the Europa League.

Newcastle has the talent to be a top half of the table team. It will be interesting to see how the Magpies play this year with just the Premier League to worry about. Based on yesterday, when Newcastle played Chelsea off the pitch in the second half, I would say that it will be a team that will push on and get back closer to the form of 2011-2012.

• The rise to prominence of Adnan Januzaj at Manchester United has been swift.
Reserve team player of the year last season for United, the 18-year-old has taken the league by storm this season. His man of the match performance in his first start against Sunderland, in which he scored both of the United goals to lead them from behind to victory, announced him to the rest of the world. United fans will know he had four goals on the summer tour, and were just waiting for David Moyes to get him into the squad.

Januzaj, having just signed a five year deal, will be the spearhead of the next young generation of United players coming through its academy into the first team. Jesse Lingard, Nick Powell, Michael and Will Keane, the names go on, just like the United academy players do. If you look around the league, United have academy graduates playing everywhere, up and down the English leagues. Incredibly, United have had a graduate from its academy on the pitch or the bench in every match since 1937, a span of over 75 years and almost 3,700 matches.

• One more International break coming up, and then it is a straight shot through until after the new year. Pretenders and contenders will start to sort themselves out. Late November and December are a football fans dream, with matches being played midweek as well as weekends. It is always a fun time of year in the Premier League.